François de La Rocque
François de La Rocque is the leader of French National-Populist party, Parti Social Français. Leader of this Party but also of the extreme right embodied by the Leagues. The far-right leagues are several French far-right movements opposed to parliamentarism, which mainly dedicated themselves to military parades, street brawls, demonstrations and riots. To unite France State,and theire to assert superiority and strength, to avoid succumbing to decay of collectivism and liberalism. History Early life François de La Rocque was born as the third son to a family from Haute-Auvergne. His father was a General, being the commander of the artillery on the Lorient Naval Base. He entered Saint Cyr Military Academy in 1905, the class of "Promotion la Dernière du Vieux Bahut", and graduated in 1907. He was posted to Algeria and the edge of Sahara, and in 1912 to Lunéville. The next year, he was called to Morocco by General Hubert Lyautey. Despite the outbreak of the Great War, he remained there until 1916 as officer of indigenes affaires, when he was gravely wounded and repatriated to France. The Great War After making Saint-Cyr (1905), he served in the Algerian-Moroccan borders in 1910-1911, then in the Moroccan Atlas from August 1914 to April 1916, before fighting during the Great War. He was named Captain and then seriously injured during a military operation. Declared "unfit to campaign", he was, upon his request, assigned to the 135th Infantry Regiment and participated in the Battle of the Somme. In 1918, at age 33, he was the youngest battalion commander in the French army. He was decorated with the War Cross with nine citations and was an Officer of the Legion of Honour. From 1919 to 1927, he was posted to Marshal Foch's allied staff, which was interrupted by his posting to Warsaw as General Niessel's cabinet chief and General Dupont. In July 1922, La Rocque was at the Mission in Poland, a direct liaison officer between Marshal Foch and Marshal Pilsudski. Made available to Marshal Foch's General Staff in September 1923, he was sent to Morocco two years later as head of the 2nd Bureau during the last phase of the Rif war. He contributed to the surrender of Ab-el-Krim. Parti Social Français (PSF) After leaving the army in 1928, François de La Rocque founded the French Social Party. The PSF must, according to its leader, "reconcile the social spirit and patriotism". Values that were lost after the war, according to him, by a large part of the traditional political class. These values are embedded in the motto of the party: 'Labour, Family, Fatherland'. Structured, centralised and authoritarian, the PSF has a service of order named "Fire Crosses" which gather a great part of the veterans of the Great War. The Fires Crosses do not have a uniform, but only a tricolour armband. As he was a great figure in the past, the party and its leader made connections in the military. Mainly in the high military sphere like the entourage of Marshal Petain. Moreover, some members of the PSF advocate the overthrow of parliamentary rule by the army rather than gain power through the electoral vote. The Party is hierarchized. The structure is as follows: Président: François de La Rocque General Delegate: Noël Ottavi Chief of the Fire Cross: Jean Mermoz Exécutive Committee: Fire Cross officers: Jean Ybarnégaray (Laywer) Louis-Alexandre Audibert Georges Riché (Treasurer) Bernard Dupérier Edmond Barrachin (Industrial) Paul Touvier Charles Vallin (Progaganda). Augustin-Belkacem Ibazizen PSF Goals In a book published in 1933, "Civic Service", François de La Rocque explains its objectives: Reconcile the State and the Church with the installation of a new concordat, creation of a corporate economic system to destroy the influence of collectivism and liberalism. women's right to vote and the promotion of social Christianity in French society. But the main goal of the PSF and its leader is to destroy the current parliamentary regime, and installed a Republican state (a "French National State") with strong presidential power in order to unify the nation and the French people to face the threats that loom over the future of France; Germany and Great Britain. His program : '-Politics:' A strong regime of presidential type, no longer parliamentary. '-Economic:' the "organized profession", a kind of flexible corporatism organizing, by branch of activity, the relations between companies and between entrepreneurs and employees. (National Corporation) '-Social:' the "participation-association of capital and labor". The PSF is linked to the third largest French trade union, the Confederation of French Trade Unions (CSPF). The slogan of François de La Rocque, "social first", which opposed the "politics first" of Maurras (Action Française), is not an empty word. The PSF has a number of social services (soup kitchens, popular education, Jean Mermoz flying clubs, summer camps, sports preparation and education companies (SPES). (He want the creation of Christian Social Security). '-Societal:' the vote of the women, old demand of the catholic right. (Women's Suffrage and new Concordat whive Church). '-International:' Greatness of France around the world and expansion of the Continental Entente. ("France has no friends, only interests") One of the foreign policy projects of the PSF is to extend France on its natural border, mainly to the north. The integration of Belgium, Luxembourg and the Rhine is necessary to bring this project to term.Category:People